The Visiting Teacher Service for Children and Young People with a Hearing Impairment is provided by my Department from the time of referral through to third level education. The Visiting Teacher service provides advice and support to parents and schools to ensure the needs of children and young people with hearing impairment are met. This service is available at pre-school, primary and post-primary levels and includes children at the pre-school stage whose specific needs could be beneficially addressed through the work of the Visiting Teacher Service and the expertise within the service, such as children with auditory processing disorders. Specifically, the service works in partnership with parents of pre-school children with hearing impairment, visiting their homes and/or meeting them in groups to inform, advise and offer guidance on matters pertaining to their education and overall development and helping their children to derive maximum benefit from the educational opportunities available.
There is no scope to further extend the provision of this service to children who do not have a hearing impairment. The Deputy may be aware that the vast majority of supports for child care, including pre-school education, is not provided by my Department, but is provided by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The principal vehicle for delivery of pre-school education is the free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which was introduced in January 2010 and provides early learning in a formal setting to children in the year before they commence primary school. My Department will continue to work in partnership with other departments and agencies to complement and add value to existing Early Years programmes.
My Department provides a range of teaching and care supports for children of schoolgoing age with special educational needs. My Department's policy is to provide for such children to be included in mainstream schools unless such a placement would not be in their best interests or the interests of the children with whom they are to be educated. Some children may be supported in a special class attached to a mainstream school. These students have the option, where appropriate, of full or partial integration and interaction with other pupils. Other children may have such complex needs that they are best placed in a special school. In special schools and special classes, students are supported through lower pupil teacher ratios. Special needs assistants may also be recruited specifically where pupils with disabilities and significant care needs are enrolled. Health and Therapy support services are also provided for students in schools in some instances, by the Health Service Executive.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers for allocating resources to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. For children under the age of five, the NCSE, through its network of Special Educational Needs Organisers, liaises with Assessment Officers in the HSE in respect of the assessment of need process under the Disability Act 2005. My Department's Circular 0020/2011, which is available on my Department's website and issued to all primary schools earlier this year, clarifies the roles of the NCSE and the HSE in relation to the assessment of need process as well as the role of the school in this regard.